This book explains the physics of nuclear battery operation. It provides a comprehensive background that allows readers to understand all past and future developments in the field. The supply and cost of radioisotopes for use in applications (focused on nuclear batteries) are covered in the initial sections of the text. The interaction of ionizing radiation with matter is discussed as applied to nuclear batteries. The physics of interfacing the radioisotopes to the transducers which represent the energy conversion mechanism for nuclear batteries are described for possible nuclear battery configurations. Last but not least the efficiencies of nuclear battery configurations are discussed combined with a review of the literature on nuclear battery research.

Explains the physics of nuclear battery operation Provides a comprehensive background which will allow readers to understand all past and future developments in the field Includes mathematical programs Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Mark A. Prelas is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Missouri. Prelas received his doctorate from the University of Illinois. He has received numerous awards and recognition including being named a Presidential Young Investigator by the National Science Foundation in 1984, was a Gas Research Institute Fellow in 1981 working on the production of fuels from inorganic resources, was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of New South Wales in 1992, was named a fellow of the American Nuclear Society in 1999, was a William C. Foster Fellow with the U.S. Department of State in 1999-2000 where he served as a science adviser for the Bureau of Arms Control, and he received the Glenn Murphy Award from the American Society for Engineering Education in 2009 for his contributions to nuclear engineering education and research. He has also served as the senior scientist on a Strategic Defense Initiative project at the Idaho National Laboratory in 1987. In 2008 he was awarded the Frederick Joliot-Curie Medal from the Government of Russia and the Board of ISJAEE for his contributions to the field of direct energy conversion and his pioneering work on the development of photovoltaic cells from wide band-gap materials.

Inhalt
1 Introduction to Nuclear Batteries and Radioisotopes.- 2 Radioisotopes.- 3 Interactions of Ionizing Radiation with Matter and Direct Energy Conversion.- 4 Power Density Dilution Due to the Interface of the Isotope with the Transducers.- 5 Efficiency Limitations for Various Nuclear Battery Configurations.- 6 Potential Applications for Nuclear Batteries.